Cast on 192 (208) 224 (240) sts on 4m needle with nature, join in the round (marking the beginning of the round with a stitch marker) and knit 4 cm rib (k2. p2). Continue in stockinette. In round 1 decrease evenly down to 180 (192) 208 (220) stitches (decrease only over the purl stitches). Place stitches markers on the sides. There are 90 (96) 104 (110) stitches for each side. Decrease 1 stitch each side of the side markers when the work measures 6, 10 and 14 cm. At the same time, when piece measures 9 (10) 11 (12) cm and 25 (26) 27 (28) cm knit the pattern from diagram A, starting at the centre back.

AT SAME TIME: When the work measures 22 (23) 24 (25) cm increase 1 stitch each side of the side markers, and thereafter every 4 cm intervals for a total of 3 times again = 180 (192) 208 (220) m. After the second chart repeat the work should be 33 (34) 35 (36) cm. Knit 2 rows with nature and in the last round cast off 8 (10) 10 (10) stitches at each side (for the arms). Leave the remaining 82 (86) 94 (100) stitches on each side on stitch holders.

I knit too much space between the first and second row of snowflakes. In order to get the space between the second and final row to match I had to knit 5 rows with the background colour after the last row of snowflakes (I did this on both the body and the arms). I think if you follow the pattern measurements more accurately your snowflakes will end up spaced more evenly than mine turned out.

Sleeves

Cast on 52 (52) 56 (56) sts on 4m dpns with nature, and knit 4 cm rib (k2, p2). Continue in stockinette, decreasing to 46 (50) 52 (54) stitches in the first row (decrease only on the purl stitches). Begin knitting diagram A 2 rows after rib and again when work measures 20 and 36 cm, starting from the middle. Increase 1 st at beginning and end of round when piece measures 9 (9) 7 (5) cm, and thereafter at 2 cm intervals 14 (14) 15 (16) times = 74 (78) 82 (86) m. After the pattern is knitted the 3rd time the piece should measure 44 cm. Knit 2 rows with nature, and on the last round cast off 8 (10) 10 (10) sts under arm. Put the remaining 66 (68) 72 (76) stitches on a stitch holder and and knit the second sleeve.

If you follow these measurements, you will have 3 rows of snowflakes which do not match up with the snowflakes on the body. If you want your snowflakes to line up I would suggest only knitting 2 rows on the arm – but you would have to recalculate the layout to make sure they match up.

The pattern does not give you extra snowflake stitches to fill in the increase portion, so I made up my own filler on graph paper. Here are the charts I made – but of course these will only work for the small size – and for the second snowflake row only imperfectly, because I didn’t do a very good job calculating how many stitches were between increases. But anyway, here they are for general reference.

second snowflake row - centre fill

third snowflake row - centre join

Yoke

Put the body and sleeve sections onto a large circular needle. In your background colour, in the first round k2tog at the 4 sections where the sleeves join the body = 292 (304) 328 (348) stitches. Place a stitch marker at each of the 4 sleeve joins. Decrease round: Knit to 3 stitches before a marker, ssk, knit 1, slip marker, knit 1, k2tog. Repeat 3 times, for a total of 8 decreases per row. Repeat this decrease every second round 10 (11) 12 (12) times = 212 (216) 232 (252) stitches. Then knit one round decreasing to make up the following number of stitches: 210 (210) 231 (252) stitches. Knit pattern following diagram B - NOTE: Count out from the center front, so the pattern in the middle of the front will fit with the patterns that have already been knitted on the body. Knit 10 (10) 11 (12) chart repeats. Decrease as shown in the diagram (you will need to switch to a shorter circular needle as you decrease). When the chart is knit, there are 120 (120) 132 (144) stitches on your needle. K 0 (2) 2 (3) rounds with the background colour. Knit 4 cms of k2 p2 rib, decreasing evenly in your first round to 108 (112) 116 (120) stitches. Bind off loosely.

This pattern was obviously developed for extremely tall, swan-necked Scandinavians, because if I had followed the decrease pattern after the final snowflake row the sweater would have come up to my nose! I had to decrease much more quickly – I did a double decrease (I used S2KP, or slip 2, knit 1, pass the slipped stitches over) every other row in the space between the snowflakes, until I reached the right number of stitches for the rib neck section.